


From midair

by MidnightMare



Category: SHINee
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Romance, Skydiving, Snow, Switzerland
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-19
Updated: 2017-11-19
Packaged: 2019-02-04 12:53:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12771504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidnightMare/pseuds/MidnightMare
Summary: It didn’t take more than a few minutes for the steward to pause at Taemin’s row, bowing slightly next to his cart with slightly raised brows and bright eyes that widened just slightly. “Ah,” he faltered, dropping his professional script for just a moment. He was Korean too, Taemin noticed, nodding at the steward. “Would you like anything to drink this morning, sir? We have freshly prepared Lavazza coffee, water, juices….”“Please!” Taemin said at once. “Coffee,” he clarified, with a shy grin hidden behind his scarf. The steward was inordinately handsome.





	From midair

From midair, up there among the splotches of white and grey cloud hovering in the sky, the train making its way through the white valleys below looked like a black stroke on canvas with a wispy, smoky tail, curving nonchalantly between high peaks and frosted trees and over tall stone bridges. From up there, in the clouds, it was difficult to see how they dispersed further ahead, fading into nonexistence as more blue was revealed, suddenly shining with the newly uncovered sun, so bright there was hardly a hint of yellow, but down there, from a relatively comfortable brown-cushioned seat right beside a window, facing backwards so it felt like he was being pulled away from the landscape as it sped past on the other side of the cold glass, Taemin squinted up as the window that had stayed consistently misty and frozen dark blue and grey beyond for an hour abruptly became brighter, a ray of stray silvery sunshine beaming through the window onto his knees. He slid his ungloved hands into the patch of light, but didn’t feel much warmth for it on his bare skin, only the cold stiff texture of his jeans, tugged on in early morning. He yawned hugely, bringing his left hand up to vaguely brush the air in front of his mouth.

            “Or coffee?” a voice asked brightly in English nearby, and Taemin turned his head, thick-knitted scarf bunching up over his lips and under his nose, to see a man dressed in a white and black steward’s outfit, his hair dark and sleekly styled up, smiling pleasantly at a couple several seats behind him, a silver pot of steaming coffee held obligingly in his proffered hand. Now that he was aware of it, the heady scent of coffee permeated Taemin’s nose as he turned back to face forward, attempting in vain to snuggle deeper inside his coat and the seat cushions. It didn’t take more than a few minutes for the steward to pause at Taemin’s row, bowing slightly next to his cart with slightly raised brows and bright eyes that widened just slightly. “Ah,” he faltered, dropping his professional script for just a moment. He was Korean too, Taemin noticed, nodding at the steward. “Would you like anything to drink this morning, sir? We have freshly prepared Lavazza coffee, water, juices….”

            “Please!” Taemin said at once. “Coffee,” he clarified, with a shy grin hidden behind his scarf. The steward was inordinately handsome.

            The steward smiled and turned back to his cart to get a cup, settling it in front of Taemin with a napkin and three sugar packets. After he’d poured the coffee, he faced Taemin directly again, catching his eye. “Milk?” he asked with that same cheerful tone. The sunshine, still streaming through the window next to Taemin’s seat as the train moved on, now passing over a deep valley, played with the polished golden buttons in a line down his front. Now a small silver milk pitcher was in his hand.

            “Ah, yes, please,” Taemin said, sliding his full cup over a bit as the steward raised his hand and poured a swirl of milk over the top. “Would you like anything else?”

            “Umm…croissant, please?” Taemin’s voice broke in English for a second, and he stifled a little giggle in the back of his throat as the steward handed him one before inclining his head again and moving on. Gathering the sugar packets in hand, Taemin watched him continue towards the back of the train, slightly bent over the cart he pushed at waist-level. Taemin ripped the tops off all at once as the steward stopped again a few meters ahead, greeting more passengers with that much-too bright smile, dark eyes squinting cheerfully, and a slight bump in the rails must’ve jerked Taemin’s hand at that moment as sugar littered the small tabletop and had to be hastily brushed away. With the rest of it, the coffee was especially sweet as Taemin sipped at it, warming his core, and the croissant especially flaky, pieces falling all over his lap as he bit into it, watching in awe as the sun set off the snowy mountainsides with a white sparkling brilliance. A small smile lingered at the corners of his full lips. This was a fine morning.

 

Jinki poured his last cup of coffee at the end of the train’s passenger area, leaving a final smile with a pair of young women who looked dead tired, half-slumped in their seats, cradling the warm cups between their palms. Getting back behind the cart, he pushed it through the double doorway several steps behind the last row into the next carriage and immediately released the handle, rolling his shoulders back with a quiet groan.

            “You okay?” It was Luna, gathering several ceramic coffee cups together by the handles from stocked cupboards.

            “Yeah, fine, just stiff. And tired.” Jinki moved around the cart to give her space to restock it for the next walk-through for lunch. She looked up sharply.

            “Are you not sleeping well still?”

            He shrugged. “Well enough for the usual. I’m going to go check for a new box of biscuits; there’s hardly any left.”

            Luna eyed Jinki’s back shrewdly as he continued through another door, and bit her lip as she tucked another stack of napkins in the cart. He’d complained about his worsening sleep schedule over the past few weeks, and it didn’t seem to have stopped. He could be stressed, she wondered idly, brushing her skirt down as she straightened. Maybe he’s due for a visit home.

 

From up there, midair, dropping below cloudcover and into clear blue sky, the ground becomes so much bigger, and patches of dark green become forests climbing up mountain slopes, and soon the differences between slick black rock and grey rock and uncovered frozen soil and white expanses of fallen snow become so much more prominent during the freefall, wind streaming past, flying up, and there are dips and crevices and valleys that become bigger, and then a slope is noticed that is not so much puzzle-patterned with snow and stone but dotted with rises and falls, little roofs from so high thickly iced with white and dripping in icicles only imagined from so far away, hanging over wooden cabins clustered together for common purpose. Taemin watched the profile of this high-altitude resort come into his window-view just before lunchtime, when his limbs were finally feeling less dead and cold from travel and were beginning to thrum from an illsome mixture of excitement and jitters that turned his stomach. The buildings formed a small village on the mountainside, lovely in all its snow-covered wood, windows black through all the white. There were ski-lift lines hanging suspended from up further on the mountain, the station at one end of the village behind a more modern looking hotel half-hidden by the quainter cabins and shops interspersed with towering pines on narrow roads. The sky was completely blue by now, midday, flawless and bright. A shiver went through Taemin as a warmer stream of sun hit him, and he grinned at the view outside that slowed, the train drawing nearer to the front of the resort.

            Just then, a short announcement floated through the passenger carriage. We will be stopping briefly at this station for a routine mechanical check. We thank you for your patience.

            Taemin wouldn’t have thought much of it, and he didn’t as the train slowed to a full stop at the resort station and several people in his carriage gathered their belongings to leave, not until a few minutes later when he caught a glimpse of that steward’s concerned face half in the doorway of the carriage, in conversation with a stewardess.

            Something can’t be wrong…. Taemin thought, furrowing his brow and turning in his seat to see if anyone else behind him looked worried.

 

The cart was freshly adorned with a new white cloth and laden with steaming dishes when the announcement came through the staff carriage. Both Jinki and Luna looked up at each other quizzically. “That’s odd,” Jinki said. “Isn’t it?”

            Luna nodded. “I can’t see why anything would need to be checked; we’re only four hours in since departure.”

            Jinki pursed his full lips, forehead creasing. “If we’re not moving on right away as usual, do you suppose we should serve lunch now, or wait until we’re moving again?”

            “Ah, I don’t know, I don’t know,” Luna replied, waving a hand in the air and reverting to Korean as she nearly always did in annoyance. It was enough to split Jinki’s frown into a smile, and he patted her blonde head.

            “Don’t worry, I’ll go see. Just keep these hot.”

 

Jinki made his way from one end of the first—or last—passenger carriage to the other, glancing around at the nearly all vacant seats. Only five passengers remained, apparently not up for skiing—the pair of women, a couple far too involved with counting the number of windows peeking out of caked snow in the resort, and the young Korean man. He is cute, Jinki thought as he made his way past the passenger again, mildly surprised at himself for the thought. Jinki managed to control his expression, though, only smiling when the passenger glanced up from the window, his chestnut fringe falling cutely into his eyeline, pink plump lips curving automatically in return.

            “Oh,” the passenger spoke up just as Jinki stepped past his seat. “Excuse me?”

            Jinki turned, and he continued. “Is there something wrong with the train? Will we be here long?”

            “Not too long, I hope,” Jinki said, trying to compose his face into something reassuring, but really just as clueless as the passenger, who had a scrunch between his eyebrows and had folded his pretty lips. “I’m about to go see what I can find out, but I’m sure we’ll be moving right along as usual very soon.” Jinki had a sudden odd urge to pat the passenger’s head, but brushed it off with a smile, hurrying on. By the time he’d gotten further up the train and had thought of nothing but that passenger’s nice dark eyes, erasing any notion of what he was going to ask the mechanics, conductor and whatnot, Jinki stopped and shook his head clear. Distractions regardless, Jinki didn’t manage to find out much. There was a problem with the engine, that was sure, but the words tossed around in German between one of the mechanics and the conductor were vague and ungraspable. He only stuck around long enough to get a wait number. “A few” hours…hopefully.

 

Taemin looked up from his phone when the door at the end of his passenger carriage opened again—there was only so much to look at through the window now that the train had pulled up to the station and was left idling—and found that steward striding back with a restrained, but perturbed expression. More than curious but not wishing to get in his employed way, Taemin didn’t stop him again, instead just watching as he marched straight through back to that other pretty stewardess, who looked up at him questioningly. Taemin strained to overhear.

 

“Well?” Luna said, brows raised and hands just about to go to her hips.

            Jinki responded in hushed tones, gently grasping her shoulder and pulling her back through to the staff carriage. “Not sure…they say we’ll be stuck here for a few hours, at least, and that throws off our whole schedule. We need to let the passengers still aboard know. And we should go ahead and serve lunch.” He turned and brought out a large chilled bottle of water, setting it inside the cart. He was all of a sudden very tired, and ached in a way that couldn’t be pinpointed.

           

From up there, still midair, crisp cold air that awakened all the senses but no longer froze to the bone, speeding down still lower, the clustered cabin roofs and larger hotel became clearer, lines between logs defined in the sides, pointed pine trees the deepest green spiky with needles protruding from boughs into the sweet bright cold air, tasting the snow-feel that lingered long after the fall had ended, and the snow itself layered on the ground became less bright and more soiled with footprints and tracked dirt, compressed and melting and edged with untouched poufs, and the train that from above looked so much like a snake, slithering seamlessly through the passes, now sat decidedly dormant and smoky, of metal and wheels. Taemin felt colder in the unmoving train, either because his excitement was ebbing away now that he wasn’t still on his way directly towards his destination, a skydiving site still several hours further on this route, or because the train’s heat was escaping as the engines were shut off for maintenance.

            The croissant and coffee were a while ago gone, and Taemin was getting shivery, so when he noticed the dining cart accompanied by both the handsome steward and the pretty stewardess, hunger flared up in his stomach. He ordered a hot sandwich, before glancing at the steward. “Um…is there any…ah…information, about the train?”

             “Yes, unfortunately we will be staying here for several hours. During that time passengers are free to leave the train to get some fresh air, or stay inside, whichever is preferable.”

            “Ah, okay,” Taemin nodded. “Thank you.” And they moved on.

            Taemin ate earnestly, and, every crumb devoured, he looked out the window at the cold station and stood, groaning slightly as he stretched his limbs. He zipped up his jacket a little further—it really was getting colder inside the carriages—and made his way past the couple to the exit. Hopping straight down into a low snowbank, Taemin couldn’t help his grin that spread at once, lighting up his whole face and setting his eyes sparkling as the ice crystals under sunrays. Noticing that the path etched into the white ground between the train and the station was a bit slippery, a hint of mischief quirked his mouth and he jogged a few steps, letting himself slide with the momentum, giggles bubbling in his chest. Coming to a stop, Taemin looked up at the big blue sky, so very present without a pane of glass between, and he reached up as if he could pull a handful down, a handful of warm blue and sunshine and snowfall. He laughed outright at himself and twirled.

 

It was an hour after he’d served lunch, and Jinki was currently asking for an update on the schedule for departure. Jinki didn’t necessarily mind a break from his usual duties, but being off-routine made him uneasy. He’d relied on routine for a year and a half now, since leaving Seoul, and though there had been a few instances of needed mechanical repair, they had all been very quick and not detrimental to the overall schedule.

            “It’s going to take more time,” the head mechanic said to Jinki in heavily accented English, only because Jinki looked so concerned. “We’ll get it up and running eventually, but look ahead.” Jinki turned, gaze fixed on the sky. The blue from just an hour before had faded some ways away, a crowd of heavy white-grey clouds making their way over the mountains, as if pushing each other forward towards the ski resort. “We might just get snowed in.”

 

The lack of sleep from the night before becoming increasingly apparent in Jinki’s developing headache, he pressed a hand to his temple briefly. Luna walked back into the staff carriage a second later, immediately going to his side. “You okay?”

            Jinki waved it away, putting a grin on. “Yeah, fine. Just tired. And cold—the snowstorm’s getting stronger….” He peered out a window. The clouds had overtaken the sky above the resort and station, completely covering it in a dense whitish-grey and pouring down snow in heaps. The remaining passengers, the non-skiers, were restless, having all either come back onto the train from short ventures outside or found refuge in the shops behind the station. It had been hours since the train had stopped, and complaints were stirring. The snow was coming down too hard, and it was getting later.

            Then the conductor’s voice came on over the intercom.

            Unfortunately, due to weather conditions and further need for repairs, we will be remaining at this station until planned departure tomorrow morning. All remaining passengers are invited to seek overnight accommodations at the resort hotel. We sincerely apologize for this inconvenience.

            “Lovely,” said Luna. “I guess that means another night in the staff sleeping carriage for us…woo….” She turned to Jinki with a sudden smirk. “Oh, dear, you’ll have to deal with Lena….”

            Jinki groaned, all but putting his face in his hands. He was not up for warding off unwanted flirtation tonight.

 

Taemin was wet and frozen, making his way through the narrow roads of the resort through the blizzard. Remains from his snow-play hours before had melted through his clothes and they clung to his skin uncomfortably, and his fingers were numb and white even curled into his puffy jacket pockets. The day had long since darkened into night and it was quite beautiful out, the black sky a backdrop for warm glowing streetlamps and furiously swirling snowflakes in a strong wind searing straight to the bone. His breath came out in white puffs, but despite the misery of frozen conditions his eyes couldn’t stop twinkling in delight.

            The hotel was rustic and wooden, draped in thick snowfall that glimmered subtly under artificial light. And way over Taemin’s trip budget. He walked right back out the front door after finding out the nightly rate and stood to the side on the entrance step, and sighed. His trip wasn’t going exactly to plan. His full bottom lip stuck out in a pout.

            “Oh, hi!”

            Taemin looked up to see that steward, in regular clothing, walking towards the hotel with a huge bright smile and squinty eyes, pulling a hand out from the pocket of his huge jacket to give a little wave.

            “Oh,” Taemin said, surprised. “Hello.”

            The steward jogged up the steps, still smiling, his black canvas backpack bouncing against his tailbone. He was much cuter like this, Taemin couldn’t help thinking, in comfortable clothes, a casual stance.

            “Did you get a room up here?” The steward looked up at the hotel front, snowflakes still beating against the sides and layering over the top. The wind was still strong, and he shivered. “My name is Jinki, by the way. You’re allowed to know; not in uniform. Let’s go in! It’s freezing.”

            “Oh, actually,” Taemin started, a hand lifting gently in slight protest, before Jinki ushered him inside once again, “it’s a bit, um, expensive…. I’m Taemin, um, hi.”

            “Oh…,” Jinki said, frowning. “Too expensive?”

            Taemin nodded, folding his lips over in a well-what-can-you-do way.

            Jinki looked concerned. “Are you just going to sleep in your train seat all night then?”

            “Um.” That had actually been exactly what Taemin was planning on doing, not being able to afford a room here there wasn’t many—any—other places to go. Just a little inconvenient, he thought sarcastically, mind-beaming it to the conductor, wherever he might be now.

            “Well….” Jinki scratched his head, his other hand going to his back jeans pocket, to his averagely laden wallet, locking eyes with Taemin. “Do you wanna share?”

 

Opening a door to a double on the fifth floor, Jinki grinned happily at the cozy beds, immediately slinging off his backpack and throwing himself spread-eagled on the nearest one. “Ahhh…this is great. So much better than the staff sleeping carriage….” His words were muffled by the thick white comforter, and he let out a great tired contented sigh into it. Getting off the train had given him an energy buzz, helped by the gale of snow he walked through, freezing him just enough to awaken, but here he felt himself settling down...he could fall asleep. No, that wouldn't do. He was rooming with an attractive man; he couldn't just ignore him. A second later he popped up again, craning his neck around to see Taemin tossing his bag onto his bed and heading straight to the window, throwing the curtains wide open and staring out delightedly. Jinki smiled, dragging himself up and bounding over to the window. Taemin turned to him, smiling nervously. He really wasn’t very open with strangers, and sharing a room…however convenient, particularly for his budget…was undoubtedly awkward.

            Jinki went to speak, but hesitated instead, falling back and sitting down again on his bed while Taemin hovered near the window. “Um, sorry, if this is weird. But thank you, too, for splitting the cost with me.” He smiled when Taemin spun around, shucking his jacket and laying it on his bed. He sat down, folding his legs up under him and taking a pillow between his arms. “Thank you, too.” Despite the darkness outside, it was still early, and Taemin’s stomach growled just then, loudly. He blushed lightly as Jinki looked at his abdomen, smiling again. Taemin wondered whether he ever stopped smiling.

            “Humm....I’m starving, so I think I’ll go find some food,” Jinki announced, standing up again. He turned towards the door and paused, looking back. “Come on! Let’s eat together!”

 

Taemin ran his eyes down the menu, a blur of German, Italian, English, describing foods he was sure he’d never heard of before, and there weren’t even helpful pictures to guide him. The happy steward—Jinki—sat across from him in the hotel restaurant, which was quite crowded, browsing his own menu with ease. Taemin flipped back to the first page and squinted at the section labeled Soups in English, still craving something warm.

            “Do you need a recommendation?” Jinki spoke up, in Korean, to Taemin’s relieved ears. His head shot up to meet his companion’s gaze, nodding gratefully. Jinki’s lips curled and he reached across the white-clothed dining table to point at the fondue. “This sounds kinda boring, but it’s seriously the best. The bread people usually use here is heavenly, and Swiss cheese is always good.”

            It was good. Taemin grinned as he spiked a warm cube of fresh bread and dipped it into the bubbling pot of cheese, swirling and laced with garlic and wine, bringing it to his mouth and chewing fervently. Jinki had ordered a double serving and this way neither felt bad about filling up on bread. It took a little bit before Taemin felt comfortable enough to continue a conversation with this handsome man who had literally just taken him in for the night, but by the end of their meal he was smiling nearly as much as Jinki, who kept asking curious questions about Taemin’s vacation from Korea.

            “Skydiving, really?” Jinki asked, looking somewhat surprised. “That sounds crazy. And you came all the way here just to do it?”

            Taemin nodded, chewing. “I’ve always heard Switzerland is a good place for it, and if I’m going to do it, I’m going to do it right. And when I was young I wanted to fly, and with the high mountains here I think I’ll really feel like a bird.” He flushed a bit suddenly and laughed a little, as if he felt he’d said too much. Jinki looked thoughtful.

            “That’s really brave, you know. I don’t think I could take that sort of risk myself. I haven’t really wanted to take any risks, since I moved here from Korea.” The intensity of his expression made Taemin’s stomach flip—it sharpened his features, and while his constant carefree smiling made him seem younger and cute, his seriousness made him look his age, at least five years older than Taemin, and oh so attractive. Taemin lowered his eyes back to the bread platter, a few small butterflies starting the beat their irksome wings around his abdomen.

            “So you’re a student?” Jinki asked, accidentally twirling his bread-ended stick a little too quickly and sending a splatter of melted cheese over the edge of the bowl and across the platter.

            “Yeah,” Taemin said hastily, lips opening and closing painfully around a hot bite. “I’m a student at Myongji University. I study music and film.” He gulped his water, soothing a burnt tongue.

            “Ah!” Jinki exclaimed. “You do music too? I majored in music at Chungwoon!”

 

Jinki was suffering from lusty wrong feelings for the first time in ages as he rode up the elevator accompanied by his roommate, attempting to stifle the thoughts that went careening around in his brain and sending a hot flush to his ears whenever he glanced at Taemin, who leaned casually against the corner, eyelids slipping closed as they ascended. Jinki stared at him unabashedly. The more he looked, the more things he noticed about Taemin—the odd curving slope of his nose, a hook really that was nonetheless cute; the way his upper lip seemed to fade right into his skin, plump and pretty as it was; the brush of his eyelashes on high cheekbones; the curve of his neck down to his Adam’s apple, and collar bones; his lithe body, legs in form-fitting jeans that suggested the dancing hobby that Taemin had talked about at dinner.

            Jinki honestly wasn’t the type of person who used his job to randomly meet people and suddenly decide they were a perfect companion for his admittedly lonely livelihood. Sure, he had Luna, and he was grateful for her friendship, the only true friend he’d made since he moved to Switzerland, but he was longing for a relationship. Not that he was already thinking of Taemin in a relationship way…just…he was beautiful, damn it, and sweet, and nice, and funny once he managed to get past his shy countenance. And how romantic was this situation, really—an unfortunate but perfectly-timed snowstorm in the Swiss Alps forcing them off the train, out of their roles as steward and passenger, sharing a private dinner and a room, the snow still falling beautifully outside, white and sparkling in the night and beneath lamplight.

            All this ran through Jinki’s head in only a second, and then the elevator came to a swift smooth stop at their floor and Taemin’s eyes flicked back open. He led the way to their room, and Jinki swiped the cardkey. Again, Taemin went straight to the window and watched the snow fall, as if he’d never seen it before—but Jinki supposed it was a different experience, seeing the snow fall in Switzerland rather than the same sight year after year in Seoul. He’d certainly spent a fair share of his time when he first moved gawking at the scenery. He joined Taemin at the window, watching the snow pile up on the roads, around tree trunks, drooping boughs down as they folded under the compacted weight. Taemin grinned at him. “It’s so pretty.”

            “As are you.” Jinki stared, absolutely mortified, as Taemin’s mouth opened in surprise, their eyes locked. “Good god,” Jinki stammered, laughing a little, “that’s so cheesy, did I really say that? I don’t think I meant to, really, but god, you are pretty—beautiful, really—”

            A swift, sweet movement brought Taemin’s plush lips to his own for a few seconds, cutting him, and his air supply, totally off. Taemin retreated then, leaving Jinki shell-shocked and giddy. “Um,” Taemin murmured, completely distracted from the view outside the window now. “I…I think you’re very handsome, Jinki hyung. And I know I’m awkward and this is awkward since we just met and we really hardly know anything about each other but, um, but I like you because you’re nice and sweet and cute and you’re also really helpful and I’d also really like to kiss you again if that maybe would be okay.”

            Jinki just breathed out and nodded helplessly, feeling like he wasn’t really present at all and at the same time so very present, so very aware of this beautiful young man he’d seen for the first time just twelve or thirteen hours before, served him coffee and a croissant and thought he was very attractive, yes, but someone he’d never have a chance to get involved with, in any manner, but now he was holding his waist and kissing him, their lips brushing together, light as snowflakes on ungloved palms and just as searing, sending tingles all the way down to Jinki’s toes because this wasn’t just about lust—Jinki wanted to learn more about Taemin—everything would be cool—he wanted to know why he was so passionate about music, whether he liked school a lot or just kinda, whether he worked, what he liked to do, who and what he loved and hated, whether he had those days where he just felt like life sucked in every way except for staying in bed all day, whether he preferred cake to pie or rice to noodles—and Jinki—as he opened his mouth for Taemin’s provocative tongue, tightening his grip on his waist and sliding his palms down to lean hips, and Taemin’s breath hitched as Jinki moved his head to the side, pressing further into him, his lips on fire and Taemin’s warm body closer, embraced—Jinki wanted to do things he’d never considered before with Taemin just because, like skydiving, because he’d never been one to take risks before up and leaving his family’s business in Korea, because it wasn’t what suited him and he knew it better than anyone, and because he needed a change, but maybe he’d grown complacent here too, maybe he needed Taemin to get him out of the day in day out, a steward serving passengers, a good steward, following the rules so easily, going around with Luna because she was bright and sunny and a beautiful friend and someone to hide behind when he got harassed by Swiss girls—maybe he needed Taemin, a passenger, someone totally random, to help him start experiencing things again, to see the snow outside the window that was day to day for his job with a new childlike delight, seeing every snowflake as a gift to enjoy.

            Taemin pulled back again, eyes glinting and a contagious smile lighting up his face. Jinki let it spread, bringing him into a hug. “Wow…I really like you.”

 

Taemin felt like every single one of his nerves were on fire as he paced the waiting room, zipped up in a bright orange jumpsuit and a grin blossoming over his face with no hint of leaving anytime soon. His stilted English was back in play, feeling a bit awkward in his mouth after a night of using Korean comfortably with Jinki—the thought brought further warmth rushing to his cheeks and neck and ears and a curling in his stomach beyond nerves, a remembrance of the night before, of kissing Jinki and hugging him, and somehow feeling his hesitance but curling up in their beds, in soft duvets as puffy and white as the thick snow stories below and whispering softly about why he needed to fly, needed to feel his own mortality and the world below him, death in his fingers, to really live, and Jinki’s phone in his palm, an exchange of phone numbers, and another long kiss this morning before the train departed again and Jinki was back to professional steward and Taemin was back to passenger. But, he managed despite pure excitement rushing his words and leaving blanks. He’d never been so eager to sign his life away—but this is what he’d wanted most desperately for so long and he couldn’t believe he was actually going to fly.

 

High up in midair, just before the release, before the willing jump into pure sky and nothing held back, up in the blue blue sky streaked with clouds just bursting with millions of snowflakes, each to tell a tale, fall on the right palm, the tip of a tongue, the snow bank a waiting pouf for a sudden drop, a collapse in love, into the hair scrunched wetly, onto windowsills until they’re frosted like icing, a frame for a new young kind of romance, slipping between lips—there’s a moment when everything below is just a blur and eyes glaze over because it’s such an odd thing, to be miles above that surface of stone and soil and water, and there’s a breath taken because it’ll be swept away, in midair, in the ice cold air that exhilarates and cleanses, like a new person walking in at the right time, not because they’re going to change a life, but because they’re going to alter the path just a little, like a steward offering to share a room, like a passenger exposing himself, his wishes and dreams and hoping he’ll do the same, like kisses between stranger-friends met that same day, perfect and warm and soft as snowflakes falling outside the window that becomes clearer with the fall back down to earth.

**Author's Note:**

> *previously posted only on asianfanfics 3/26/2016*
> 
> inspired by Taem's Switzerland trip
> 
> Tori my love this is your 21st birthday present because I'm broke and I couldn't think of anything else to give you so I decided to give you my heart via words instead


End file.
